The instant invention relates to a dispensing carton for dispensing a roll of sheet material such as polymeric materials where the dispensing carton has a cutting means and a cutting means protector for severing preselected lengths of the sheet material from a roll of sheet material.
The prior art relating to dispensing cartons for dispensing a roll of sheet material extends over several decades and relates to dispensing rolls of sheet material wherein the sheet material may be paper, metal foil or a polymeric film material. Representative patents relating to dispenser cartons with cutter bars include:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. PATENTEE ______________________________________ 2,115,887 Spilski 3,227,340 Haley 3,531,032 Mile, Jr. 3,552,614 Wilson 3,613,973 Joeschke 3,722,767 Struble 4,307,828 Sias et al. ______________________________________
Of the above patents the Miles, Jr. and Struble patents show dispenser cartons with cutter bars affixed to the top edge of the front wall with a cover which overlays the cutter bar when the cover is in a closed configuration. Of interest is Sias et al. wherein a dispenser carton is disclosed having an exposed cutter bar located on the front panel of the cover of the dispensing carton whereby a segment of the roll sheet material may be severed from the roll by pulling it across the exposed cutter bar.
Of the aforementioned patents the Wilson patent addresses the additional issue of providing means for protecting the user of the dispensing carton from the cutting edge of the cutter bar. Wilson provides a dispensing carton with the cutter bar mounted on the top edge of the front wall of the dispensing carton with a substantially L-shaped shield for the cutting edge. The L-shaped shield is made of a resilient material which overlays the cutter bar during non-use and when in use is deflected away from the cutter bar by the sheet material. Although Wilson provides a useful protective shield for a front panel mounted cutter bar, the configuration of the patent is not useful for cover mounted cutter bars. Further, the protective shield requires the resiliency of the material forming the protective shield to retain its position overlapping the cutter bar after repeated use. Further, the action which deflects the protective shield is the action of the sheet being unwound from the roll at a required angle of contact of the sheet material and the protective shield. Proper control of this contact angle by a user is not certain and when not achieved will result in improper cutting of the sheet material by the cutter bar.
Review of the aforementioned patents demonstrates that little development or consideration has been made to date in providing a dispensing carton for a roll of sheet material having a cutter bar with a cutting edge for a sheet material and having a protection means for the cutting edge whereby the user of the dispensing carton is protected from the cutting edge when accessing the dispensing carton and during use of the dispensing carton for dispensing a sheet material.